The global travel retail market, encompassing airports, ‘downtown’ stores and cruise ships, is expected to reach 85 billion by 2020, up from approximately 70 billion in 2017, according to Generation Research. As the industry grows, tremendous opportunities are springing up for brands and retailers. But the whole sector--dominated, say some insiders, by a conventional mindset toward operations—urgently needs to play catch-up in the age of the e-commerce behemoths. The 2018 Trinity Forum, being hosted in Shanghai beginning Oct. 31 by influential travel retail publication the Moodie Davitt Report, will consider some of the pressing issues facing today’s travel retail industry players. “Can travel retail marry the very real advantages it has, such as an ever-rising, captive (though not always captivated) audience, great international and local brands, and sensorial factors such as touch, taste and smell and human interaction?” asks Martin Moodie, founder of the Moodie Davitt Report. “Can the sector enhance the ability to use what digital offers to reach the passenger throughout their journey, from check-in to arrival at their destination?” It’s no accident the event is in Shanghai. China represents the epicenter of 21st-century travel retail. The explosion in Chinese outbound and domestic travel, linked to the strong national spend on premium and luxury brands has driven global travel retail for the past decade. Attendees at Trinty can expect to hear from some movers and shakers in the global duty free and travel retail industry, including Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free, which operates the biggest single airport duty free operation in the world, and Charles Chen, President of China’s travel retail powerhouse, China Duty Free Group. Other speakers include Dag Rasmussen, Chairman & CEO of Lagardère Travel Retail; Raj Assanand, Business Development Director, Harrods; Yun Qin, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Shanghai Airport Authority; Angela Wang, Partner and Managing Director, Boston Consulting Group China; Mirko Wang of Chinese duty free pricing app Jessica’s Secret; and more. The Trinity Forum was inaugurated in 2003 by the Moodie Davitt Report. The conference attempts to improve dialogue and understanding between airports, retailers and brands (the sector’s ‘Trinity’) to the benefit of that critical fourth party--the traveling consumer.
